Cloudy water / how long should I slam

[cliffs]

New-ish to us hot tub, have had it up and running for a little over a month. I've had some limited success with keeping things in balance, but less lately.
The included test strips don't give any info - towards the end of June the Taylor kit arrived, and started getting some reasonable numbers.
Tub is the Canadian Spa Co - Toronto model (5 seats) with an ozonator set at 95/96F.

I don't know if others can see it; but here is my test and addition log:

PoolMath Logs

api.poolmathapp.com

About a week and a half ago the water was noticeably cloudy, and somewhat green. Did some reading here, and I didn't understand the slam concept of keeping on top of the chlorine repetitively until it's resolved.

July 11th ran the full set of tests: 0.5FC, 1.0CC, 7.4pH, 100TA, 325CH, 0CYA (the CYA test showed no cloudiness, in-spite of the prev DiChlor use, so I picked up and added 40g of dry stabilizer the following day, which ought to bring it to 40.)

The bleach I've been using is from the big orange box - is there a chance that it was old when I bought it, and not near the 8.25% that it's supposed to be? (and thus contributing to the problem?)

Yesterday switched over to using some 70% Cal-Hypo, twice added 11 & 17g to bring it up to 16FC, and then three times today at 21/20/22g - is using this much FC normal to get the water back to clear, it's definitely more clear then a week and a half ago, but it still has a haze to it. How long it too long to keep replenishing the FC to slam (16, w CYA=40) levels?


I'm getting to the point where I think a drain & refill might be a better option - any Canadian sources for Ahh-some, better then amazon@$65 for the 2oz?

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! For your basic question, the SLAM Process varies in length, but we continue it until all 3 criteria pass. Yes, bleach from some stores can get weak if they are left out in the heat for a while. Also look for the Julian date on the bottle/box to see when it was bottled. Hot tubes get a little tricky though since other factors like heavy bather loads, water temp, and method of chlorination come into play. Many times it is just more efficient to dump and start over, but it's your call.

Not sure if you know about these two pages, but if not I would highly recommend reading/doing them.

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa or Hot Tub?

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...

www.troublefreepool.com

Ahh-some treatment

Well, my water was getting sickly in the spa. Chemistry was fairly well maintained for 4 months. That and never having done a deep clean, time to do it. Ordered Ahh-some online and it arrived just in time today. Drained the tub last night, refilled this morning then added Ahh-some and followed...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Nigel459]

There are a few places near me in London that carry ahhsome including the jacuzzi store. Last I bought it it was $50. Crazy but should do my tub a few times.

You’ll get the hang of the water balancing. Do a search on ozonators in spas to help understand the sanitizing role and the effect they have on FC, I think some people end up turning them off...

You’ve come to the right place for advice.

 

[cliffs]

Thanks Texas & Nigel,

I didn't see the date code on the bottle before, but its 19 153 17:44, so assuming the 153rd day of 2019, being only about a month old at purchase, closer to two months old now. HDX brand, and was indoors at the time, can't guarantee it was always there though.

I've given the links another read - saw them earlier, but seems every time I read them again, I pick something else up.


As for a status report, the water still has a haze to it; and the ahh-some arrived this morning ($46+ship from poolsuppliescanada in Burlington for the 2oz), so planning on doing a deep clean and then refill tonight - so in theory can get it ready to use again for the weekend.